The Democratic Social Party ( pt, Partido Democrático Social, PDS) was a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Brazilian political party Brazil has a multi-party system since 1979, when the country's military dictatorship disbanded an enforced two-party system and allowed the creation of multiple parties. Above the broad range of political parties in Brazilian Congress, the Wo ...

. It was established in 1979 as a continuation of the

National Renewal Alliance The National Renewal Alliance (Portuguese: ''Aliança Renovadora Nacional'', ARENA) was a far-right political party that existed in Brazil between 1966 and 1979. It was the official party of the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from 196 ...

(ARENA), the political wing of the military during the 1965–79 military dictatorship, at a time in which the country was moving away from authoritarianism. However, the official foundation date is 31 January 1980. In 1985, when

Paulo Maluf Paulo Salim Maluf (; born 3 September 1931) is a Brazilian politician with a career spanning over four decades and many functions, including those of State Governor of São Paulo, Mayor of the City of São Paulo, Congressman and Presidential cand ...

won the party's nomination for the presidential bid, a huge group, led by

José Sarney José Sarney de Araújo Costa (; born José Ribamar Ferreira de Araújo Costa; 24 April 1930) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer, and writer who served as 31st president of Brazil from 1985 to 1990. He briefly served as the 20th vice president of ...

(former leader of ARENA from 1971 to 1980 and of the PDS from 1980–85), Jorge Bornhausen and

Marco Maciel Marco Antônio de Oliveira Maciel (21 July 1940 – 12 June 2021) was a Brazilian politician, lawyer, and law school professor who served as the 22nd vice president of Brazil from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2002, twice elected on the same ti ...

, founded the

Liberal Front Party The Democrats ( pt, Democratas, DEM) was a centre-right political party in Brazil that merged with the Social Liberal Party to found the Brazil Union in 2021. It was founded in 1985 under the name of Liberal Front Party (''Partido da Frente Libe ...

(PFL). Sarney was elected Vice-President in that year's election, but he served from the beginning as President, due to the death of President-elect

Tancredo Neves Tancredo de Almeida Neves () (4 March 1910 – 21 April 1985) was a Brazilian politician, lawyer, and entrepreneur. He served as Minister of Justice and Interior Affairs from 1953 to 1954, Prime Minister from 1961 to 1962, Minister of Financ ...

. The Democratic Social Party suffered bad defeats in both the 1986 (7.9%) and 1990 (8.9%) elections for the Chamber of Deputies, when at the same time PFL took 17.7% and 12.4%. In 1986, in particular, the party was seriously defeated also in state elections, so that all of the 12 governorships won in 1982 were lost. In 1993 the party merged with the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

(3.0% in 1990 elections for the lower house) to form the

Reform Progressive Party The Reform Progressive Party (''Partido Progressista Reformador, PPR'') was a centre-right Brazilian party, formed by the fusion of the Democratic Social Party (PDS) and the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) in 1993. Two years later the party, alo ...

, which was intended to be a moderate-conservative party.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Notes

Election was on electoral college not popular vote

Chamber of Deputies and Senate elections

Notorious members

Former members

References

Conservative parties in Brazil Defunct political parties in Brazil 1979 establishments in Brazil Political parties established in 1979 1993 disestablishments in Brazil Political parties disestablished in 1993 {{Brazil-party-stub